Bittersweet Child
by bethhhanay
Summary: Bubba's baby... with no mother?
1. Chapter 1

Eighteen (Ch1)

I have a problem, a time problem. You see, I have a different perception of time than you. What normal people would see as a ten-minute shower, takes me hours and hours. A book that takes two hours for me to read, only take fifteen minutes. Do you understand?  
Daddy says it come's from someone else, my time perception. I don't know who my mama is, I guess I got it from her. My black hair, blue eyes. My skin isn't pink like Daddy's, but it isn't tan, like Aunt Fi's. It's kind of gray, and blue. Oh, and don't tell anyone this, but I can float! No one knows, not even Daddy, or my best friend, Ember.  
"Princess, are you ready to go?" Peppermint Maid shouts through the door. _Oh, no! I'm meeting Princes today!_ "Dulcamara?" she asks, through the door.  
"Urg, um, yes, almost ready! Do I have to wear that AWFUL dress, though?" I shout through the door, now in the bathroom, getting my powder out, and turning the shower on.  
"Yes dear, your Father sees it fit for a princess like yourself to wear royal attire, especially to such an important meeting!" Pep replies.  
"Oh, alright. How much time do I have left?"  
"The first prince, from the Fire Kingdom, will be here, on the hour." _Shit... It's 11:48! _  
"Alright, I'll be ready by then." I say, stepping in the shower.  
"Dulcy?" I hear her ask. Before I could reply, she said "Call if you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen." I step into the shower, and quickly start washing my hair. don't let it fool you, it may be black, but it's still gum. I'm a candy person, mostly. I don't know if my Mama was a candy person or not. I step out of the shower and dry myself off, stepping over to my tin of powder. Well, powdered sugar, to be exact. I get all sticky if I don't use it. I go over to the dress Daddy had tailored for me. I mean, it's alright, but I'd much rather wear jeans and my red blouse. Daddy says it's unladylike to wear pants, but Aunt Marcy does, all the time. I guess she isn't very ladylike though. I ring the bell for the kitchen, and almost instantly, Pep is knocking on my door. I walk over and open it, motioning Peppermint Maid inside.  
"Dulcy, what do you need?" She asks, lovingly. She was always like my mother, always has been. But still, the ache in my heart for my birth mother never ceases.  
"Would you braid my hair for me? I would do it myself, but it takes too long, and I always use too much powder." She nods, and motions for me to sit down. I do so, and she starts parting my hair, and weaving it in on itself, creating the most intricate braid yet. It looks lovely with my pink dress. "Why do I have to meet Blaze? I already know him, he's my best friend's brother for Glob's sake." She sighs at my question.  
"Yes, Dulcamara, you have to meet Prince Blaze. This is formal. You're of age to look for a suitable husband now." I sigh.  
"Well alright. I don't want to marry him though. He's too quiet." Pep nods.  
"Blaze is very quiet, but he is also smart, strong and powerful, with a kingdom full of riches. And remember, there are plenty of other princes to choose from. What about Lumpy Space Prince? Jungle Prince, Slime Prince, Prince Thoma-"  
"Must I look for a husband, though? I'm seventeen, I want to wander, to roam, to go on Adventures, like Aunt Marcy does, or like Aunt Fi did! I want to go, and live! I want to _find_ love, not to have it chosen for me!" I tell her, flustered.  
"Oh, Dulcy" She chuckles "You sound just like Ma- Mother. you sound just like your, uhh, _mother_." She stumbles over her words for a moment, and then collects herself. "It is noon, Prince Blaze should be downstairs by now, probably _waiting on you!_" She practically pushes me out my door. This was going to be a long day.  
Throughout my meeting with Blaze, I found myself blushing. And giggling, and laughing, and wishing I could spend more than an hour with him today. _Wait, Dulcy, this is your BEST FRIEND'S older brother! Would would Ember think?_ I try not to think about him after he leaves, it's just too difficult not too though. I found the rest of my day to be rather boring in comparison to my meeting with blaze. I met with Lumpy Space Prince, and I do not know what my father was thinking when he set of that meeting, because, although he is 24 years old, he acts like a twelve year old. Yeah, and he's like, seven years older than I am... then again, Blaze is 21... I barely even remember the rest of my five meetings earlier, I've just been on cloud nine.  
It's about 6 o'clock after my last meeting, so I go up to my room and change into some more comfortable attire. [this] I really like my skirt, it's one of the ones Aunt Fi got for me. I hear a knock on the door, it's Pep, summoning me for dinner, probably.  
"Princess! It's dinnertime!" She calls through my door. I was right. I walk over to the door, and walk down to the dining hall with Pep. Yo my surprise, I find many friends waiting in the dining hall. My father is at the head of the table, as usual, but next to him on one side, are my Aunts Bonni and Marcy, then Aunt Fi, with my cousin Finn. On my father's other side, my seat sat empty, with **Blaze** in the seat next to it, followed by Ember. I start blushing, and then look up at my father curiously.  
"Why is everyone here?" I say, taking my seat.  
"Dulcamara, can you tell me tomorrow's date?" Daddy asks me, beaming.  
"April 7th, why?" I answer, confused.  
"Dear, April 7th is your birthday. Tomorrow is your 18th birthday, Mara." my Aunt Bonni says sweetly from across the table. My eyes go wide.  
"Oh my, how did I forget my birthday?" I say, sarcastically. Aunt Fi and Blaze laugh, Blaze making me blush. "What's the big deal, anyways?"  
"When you turn eighteen, your parents host a coming-of-age ball, the last ball they will host, unless they have another child. It is then the child's choice, to stay, or to leave." Blaze answers. "Coming-of-age balls, for princesses, are used commonly to help find her a suitable husband." I start blushing. Like, _big-time_. A blush starts to come over Blaze's face, too.  
The rest of dinner went peacefully, with chatter about my coming-of-age ball. After dinner was over, and all our guests had left, Daddy retreated to his study, and I to my room. It really was a great day, and I fell asleep with images of Blaze hopping around in my mind.

CH2

Unfortunately, the waiting for my party takes me hours and hours. And it's only been an hour since I woke up. I take my shower, and Pep brings me up some fruit for breakfast. Strawberries, my favorite! I devour those, among other fruits, while Pep does this weird treatment on my gum hair. After I finish eating, I'm off to go see the dresses Daddy picked out for me to wear to my ball.  
Dad picked out a TON of dresses for me to wear. Well, to choose from, anyways. There are some really pretty vintage-looking dresses, some really fluffy chiffon/ruffle dresses, and a ton of dresses that remind me of Promcoming dresses. They're all so lovely! I go through, and try about half of them on, finally deciding on six, that I'll choose from later. _I wonder if Blaze will be there..._  
_Of course he will, you fool!_  
_But what if- __**No, stop it, Dulcy. Quit arguing with yourself. It's not sane.**_ I decide, since I have a few hours, in real time, that is, not my time, of time before my pary, I'll go talk to my dad. There's been a few matters pressing on in my mind, and I'd like to discuss them with him.  
"Dad?" I say, opening the door to the kitchen, where he no doubt was.


	2. Chapter 2

Unfortunately, the waiting for my party takes me hours and hours. And it's only been an hour since I woke up. I take my shower, and Pep brings me up some fruit for breakfast. Strawberries, my favorite! I devour those, among other fruits, while Pep does this weird treatment on my gum hair. After I finish eating, I'm off to go see the dresses Daddy picked out for me to wear to my ball.  
Dad picked out a TON of dresses for me to wear. Well, to choose from, anyways. There are some really pretty vintage-looking dresses, some really fluffy chiffon/ruffle dresses, and a ton of dresses that remind me of Promcoming dresses. They're all so lovely! I go through, and try about half of them on, finally deciding on six, that I'll choose from later. _I wonder if Blaze will be there..._  
_Of course he will, you fool!_  
_But what if- __**No, stop it, Dulcy. Quit arguing with yourself. It's not sane.**_ I decide, since I have a few hours, in real time, that is, not my time, of time before my party, I'll go talk to my dad. There's been a few matters pressing on in my mind, and I'd like to discuss them with him.  
"Dad?" I say, opening the door to the kitchen, where he no doubt was. When I open the door, I am suddenly blinded by a could of flour. I guess the kitchen staff was just as flustered as my dad was. I walk in the kitchen, and suddenly, a burnt smell fills my nose. "Aunt Fi? Are you here too?" I ask, into the cloud.  
"Oh!" I had just bumped into Aunt Fi. That explains the burnt smell. That woman was always willing to pitch in and help, with anything, but she couldn't bake an cake to save her life! Dad suddenly emerges from the flour cloud, and he was a comical sight.  
His pink hair was dusted with flour, and had bits of chocolate chips and hard candies stuck in it. His, uhh, _kitten_ apron was stained with what looked like strawberry syrup and fudge. Aunt Fi's bunny hat had slipped, and almost all of her hair had flown out. At least she'd gotten a haircut since the last time I had seen her without her hat. She had jelly kinder stuck in the last two or so feet of her hair, and was coated head to toe in coca powder.  
"Having fun?" I asked, trying not to laugh. Aunt Fi erupts in her silly laughter, followed by Dad, then myself. By the time we stop laughing, most of the flour had settled, and I could see what was going on in he rest of the room. Candy staff were already cleaning up flour from one side of the room, Aunt Bonnibel and Aunt Marcy in the back corner of the room, trying to figure out how to put what looked like her liquid pyrotechnics in what looked like my cake. I had completely forgotten what I had come here to talk about, when a look of shock crossed my dad's face.  
"Dulcamara, get out of here, go up to your room with Peppermint Maid, and don't leave until I give the go-ahead. Alright?" I've never seen him look so serious. I started to protest, but Aunt Fi seemed to know what was going on, and pulled her sword out of her backpack.  
"Dulcy, listen to your father. I'll go with you." We hurried back to my room, her sword at the ready the entire time, and she seemed to be looking over her shoulder, all around us. When we get to my room, she locks the door behind us, and goes to open the curtains on the balcony doors, letting in the bright sunlight. "I was worried this would happen... I always knew he'd come back, I always knew it..." Fi mutters under her breath.  
"Aunt Fi, what is going on?" I asked with urgency in my voice. She looks over at me, and sighs.  
"Dulcy, I want to tell you. I've wanted to tell you for the past seven years, since I first found out, but I can't. I have to let your father tell you... I'm so sorry..." She turns her head away from me, tears brimming in her eyes. "Well," she said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve, an putting on a fake smile "Why don't we get your ready for your ball?" She seemed happy enough now, so I let her help me.  
She talked to me, about the adventures she used to have, with Cake, my dad, and someone else. She said that someone else wasn't important, but she's a very bad liar.  
"Did I ever tell you about my first ball?" she asks, afraid I was going to pursue curiosity about the stranger. I shake my head. "Well, this is quite a story! Me and Cake were hanging out with your dad, helping with decorations for his Biennial Gumball Ball! That was his favorite thing, when he was your age, planning parties and balls and junk!" I nod my head, I knew this information. "He asked me, lil' fourteen year-old me, to go with him, as his date! But little did I know, IT WASN'T HIM! It was Ice Queen, in disguise!" The rest of the story I've heard a million times, so I just tune her out. Her story takes hours and hours, but by the time she's finished, but it was only 12:37. I jump when we hear a know at the door.  
"Dulcy? Dulcamara, open the door, it's just me!" I hear my dad say from the other side of my locked door. I get up to unlock the door, and Aunt Fi follows, close behind, sword drawn. I unlock the door, and Fi pounces, holding her sword against my father's throat, against the wall.  
"WHAT IS BONNIBEL'S BIRTHDAY?!" She asks, threateningly. My father calmly replies with the correct answer, and Fi releases her grip on him. "I'm so sorry, I just had to make sure it was you!" She sobs, wrapping my dad into a hug, effectively squishing him. He hugs her back, and says quickly.  
"Dulcamara, Ember and Blaze are here now!"


End file.
